SAN FRANCISCO — Google Thursday reported sales that topped estimates during the third quarter as advertisers boosted spending on mobile and video promotions.
Revenue, excluding sales passed on to partner sites, was $11.92 billion, the company said on its website. That compared with an average analyst projection for $11.64 billion, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
As Google expands beyond delivering ads alongside search results on desktop computers, it’s benefiting from demand for promotions that reach users via smartphone applications, online news clips or browsing on tablets. The Web company should take 33 percent of the global online-advertising market this year, up from 31 percent from last year, according to EMarketer Inc.
“Google has a lot of things going for it,” said Sameet Sinha, an analyst at B. Riley &Co.”Google has its fingers in every pie.”
Profit excluding certain items was $10.74 a share, topping analysts’ average projection of $10.36. Net income rose 36 percent to $2.97 billion from the year-ago period.
Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., climbed more than 6 percent in extended trading. The shares declined 1 percent to $888.79 at the close in New York, leaving them up 26 percent this year.
The total number of paid clicks jumped 26 percent, even as the company reported an 8 percent decline in average cost per click, a measure of advertising rates.
Google is working to address falling prices. The company earlier this year introduced a new advertising service called “enhanced campaigns,” encouraging marketers to funnel more of their spending onto wireless devices with new management tools. The change is the most significant update since the company’s search-based ad business was set up more than a decade ago, Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos., wrote in a report.
The company is making other changes. Earlier this month, Google said it would update its marketing rules to allow users’ names and photos to be used in more promotions. Also, Google is considering developing a tool that would make it easier for companies to tailor online advertisements without using cookies, which track Web-browsing habits, a person with knowledge of the matter said last month.
Google is pushing for better results in other areas, including in hardware. Its Motorola Mobility unit, which the company bought last year in its biggest acquisition ever, announced a flagship Moto X smartphone in August, an effort to boost sagging market share.
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